The incident at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church on February 11, 2024, where a mother caused her son to be caught in the cross file with the church security team’s gunfire, opens a poignant chapter in the narrative of America’s mental health care. The real victim, beyond her 7-year-old shot and remains in a critical condition is perhaps the systematic failure to address historic mental health crises that the assailant was going through.
As a community of faith perhaps our reflection should now pivot from the chaos of the event to the quieter, more insidious progression of a crisis that predated it. The assailant’s mental health crisis, her untreated schizophrenia and a litany of missed red flags by support services, beckons a profound question: How did the system fail the people of Lakewood and her local community?
Walli Carranza, the assailant’s former mother-in-law, provided a chilling testament to the Associated Press. She highlighted the duality of a condition that, when managed, presented a sweet and loving woman but, when neglected, endangered her child and society with assaults and threats made to the public with firearms. Her ex-husband’s words from a 2022 divorce affidavit paint a similar picture, the daily struggle with his wifes delusions and a harrowing account of a woman who could no longer distinguish reality from her tormented fiction.
We have learned it’s a similar story with her neighbors, too, echoed this narrative of distress. Jill Toth told ABC news that she made 19 calls to the Houston police department over three years, and in November 2023 raised the concern to the police that her behavior was escalating and surely it had only one outcome, violence. Underscoring a deteriorating mental health situation.
An Emergency mental health detention order from the police in 2016 served as a historical marker of her extensive mental health issues. The trajectory of events leading to the shooting reveals a pattern. A woman in the throes of mental illness, her behavior escalating, her loved ones and neighbors desperately seeking intervention from authorities and child protective services. Yet, the plea for a comprehensive mental health support system went unmet.
Recognizing the Signs: Preventing Crisis Before It Escalates
In the wake of tragedy, it becomes important to reflect on prevention. Understanding and recognizing the early signs of a mental health crisis can be crucial in preventing a pathway to violence. Changes in behavior, such as withdrawal from social interactions, pronounced mood swings, and erratic behavior, can be indicators of an underlying struggle. Verbal cues, too, are telling expressions of hopelessness, excessive aggression, or mentions of self-harm should never be overlooked.
Physical manifestations may include a decline in personal hygiene, sudden weight loss or gain, or unexplained injuries. Online activity also offers clues, an increase in posting about weapons, violence, mass murder or a noticeable shift towards radical or extreme ideologies should raise concern.
When these signs surface, it’s critical to approach the individual with empathy and support, offering assistance or intervention in a non-confrontational manner. Connecting the person with mental health resources, counseling, or even just engaging in a heartfelt conversation can make a profound difference. It is through vigilance and compassionate action that we can forge a preventive shield against potential violence.
Wesley Wittig from the District Attorney’s Office articulated a sobering truth about how we currently address mental health in the criminal justice system, stating that documentation and tracking are not enough. Without a holistic approach to mental health that addresses the root causes and provides pathways forward, we are bound to revisit such tragedies, we must do more than merely track these individuals he stated.
Walli Carranza’s poignant reflection offers a direction. When mental illness ravages the mind, assigning blame is less productive than acknowledging systemic failures. As a church, our role extends beyond spiritual guidance; it involves recognizing and acting upon the mental health needs within our congregation and community.
I wish that I could tell you the answers to this problem but like many I don’t have them. So, let us ask ourselves when faced with mental health crises in our church community, how can we extend support that goes beyond prayer and reaches for the very system meant to protect us all? Our faith compels us to act—to ensure that no cry for help goes unheard and no individual is left to navigate their dark waters alone.
In this pursuit, may we find the wisdom and courage to build bridges of understanding and support, for the well-being of our community and the sanctity of every life within it.
Simon Osamoh serves as the editor of Security Connections and is nationally recognized for his work in safeguarding houses of worship. He began his career in England, spending 14 years as a detective specializing in serious and organized crime before leading Counter Terrorism at the Mall of America in Minnesota. Simon founded Kingswood Security Consulting and the Worship Security Academy, aimed at providing security solutions to houses of worship. He is the author of two Amazon bestselling books and the host of the Worship Security Academy podcast. For submissions or topic ideas, reach out to Simon at sosamoh@worshipfacility.com